Every booking platform claims to be the simplest, the cheapest, or the most powerful. Usually two of the three, at most. The honest answer is that the “best” one depends on what you actually need - and on reading past the headline pricing to what you’ll really pay once commission, per-seat fees, and processing charges are added up.
This is a straight, checked comparison of seven platforms: what each one actually costs, what it actually does, and where it falls short. Every claim below was checked against the platform’s own current site or help docs, not assumed from reputation - platform pricing and features change, sometimes significantly (Fresha dropped its free tier entirely in 2025, for instance, which a lot of “best salon software” roundups still haven’t caught up with).
The quick answer
| Platform | Real monthly cost | Best for | Biggest catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rexabook | Free (team included, uncapped) or $19/mo, 0% commission either way | Traders who’d rather own their client relationship than rent it from a marketplace | No built-in marketplace, so discovery (Google, Instagram, local SEO) is on you |
| Booksy | From $29.99/mo + $20/staff/mo | Barbershops that want marketplace discovery | No auto no-show charging - you chase missed appointments manually |
| Fresha | From $9.95/staff/mo (Team) or $14.95/mo solo + 20% on new marketplace clients + processing fee | Salons that want an all-in-one marketplace + payments stack | No free tier since 2025 - three costs stack on every new client |
| Treatwell | Free to join, 35% commission on new marketplace clients | UK/EU beauty salons chasing marketplace discovery | UK/EU only; 35% is steep on a client’s first visit |
| Vagaro | From ~$30/mo, scales per staff calendar | US-based salons wanting marketing + payroll + inventory in one tool | GB/US/CA/AU only; no auto no-show charging |
| Square Appointments | Free (solo) or paid per location | Traders already using Square for card payments | Free tier is single-staff, single-location only |
| Setmore | Free (up to 4 staff) or ~$5-12/staff/mo | Very small teams wanting a simple, genuinely free start | No AI receptionist, no auto no-show charging on the free tier |
The seven platforms, one at a time
Rexabook
Free for your whole team, uncapped - your client covers a small booking fee instead of you paying a subscription - or a flat $19/month with 0% commission if you’d rather your clients not see a fee. No marketplace, no per-seat surprise, no “free” that quietly becomes commission-funded. Includes an AI Receptionist that answers enquiries by email, AI service import (paste a URL or snap a photo of your price list), automatic no-show charging, and native WhatsApp booking and reminders. Self-employed staff can either work on a tracked commission or connect their own Stripe account directly (booth/chair-rental), your choice - most competitors only support one of those two models, if either.
Catch: no marketplace bringing you walk-up discovery the way Booksy or Fresha can - and for traders who’ve been burned by marketplace intermediation (can’t message clients directly, reviews and ranking tied to someone else’s platform), that’s often the point, not a drawback. But it does mean discovery is on you: Google Business Profile, Instagram, local SEO (which Rexabook’s booking pages are built for), and referrals - not a marketplace search result.
Booksy
One of the most recognised names in barbershop booking, with a genuine marketplace that surfaces new shops to nearby searchers. Pricing starts at $29.99/month for the Biz plan, plus $20/month for every additional staff member - there’s no free tier, only a 14-day trial.
Catch: no built-in no-show charging - missed appointments are on you to chase - and no AI service import, so switching means re-entering your whole catalogue by hand.
Fresha
Very large in the UK and EU, with integrated card payments and no separate processor to set up. It genuinely was free once, which is still how a lot of people think of it - but Fresha dropped its free tier for good in 2025. The current model stacks three costs: a mandatory subscription ($9.95/staff/month on the Team plan, or $14.95/month flat if you’re solo on the single-calendar Independent plan), a 20% commission on every new client who books through its marketplace, and a payment-processing fee on every card transaction on top of both.
Catch: the “0% commission” line only ever described repeat bookings. New clients - the ones a marketplace is supposed to bring you - cost 20%, every time.
Treatwell
One of the longest-running beauty and salon marketplaces in the UK and EU. Unusually, it’s still genuinely free to join - no subscription - funded instead by a 35% commission on a new client’s first marketplace booking (0% on repeat and direct bookings).
Catch: UK/EU only, and 35% is a steep cut of a first visit. It’s also not really a marketplace-independent option - a meaningful share of your bookings stay tied to Treatwell’s own search ranking, not your brand.
Vagaro
A mature, US-built platform with marketing, payroll, and inventory tools bundled in - a genuine all-in-one for a US salon or spa. Pricing starts around $30/month for a single calendar, adding roughly $10/month per additional staff calendar. Officially available in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia only.
Catch: no built-in no-show charging, and the payroll/inventory depth is built around US-specific tax and business structures - less useful if you’re not in one of its four supported countries.
Square Appointments
The booking layer of the Square payments ecosystem - a natural fit if you already use Square hardware for card payments, since booking, payments, and reporting share one dashboard. The free tier is genuinely free, not just a trial, but it’s capped at one staff member and one location.
Catch: the booking product is secondary to the payments platform, so it’s thinner on booking-specific features - no AI service import, and no-show protection saves a card on file but charging it is a manual step you trigger yourself, not an automatic charge. Multi-staff or multi-location requires a paid Plus/Premium plan, billed per location.
Setmore
A genuinely free, simple platform popular with very small service businesses - solo cleaners, tutors, independent therapists. Free covers up to 4 staff on one location; a paid tier (roughly $5-12/staff/month) removes the cap and adds integrations like Zoom and Google Meet.
Catch: no AI receptionist or AI service import, and no automatic no-show charging on the free tier - Stripe card-on-file is a paid add-on.
How to actually choose
- Solo operator, tight budget: Setmore’s free tier or Rexabook’s Free plan both work with zero subscription. Rexabook adds automatic no-show protection and AI service import at the same $0; Setmore doesn’t, on its free tier.
- Barbershop with self-employed chair renters: Rexabook and Fresha are the only two here with genuine per-staff payment splitting (each stylist gets their own connected payout account). Vagaro has something similar for US shops. Everyone else routes all payments through the shop owner.
- You want marketplace-driven new clients and don’t mind paying for them: Booksy or Fresha have the largest marketplaces. Just model the real cost - Fresha’s 20% new-client commission and Booksy’s flat per-seat fees add up differently depending on your ticket size.
- You’d rather own the client relationship than rent it: Rexabook is the only one of the seven with zero marketplace dependency and 0% commission on every booking, new or repeat - your clients, your reviews, your booking page. The trade-off is that discovery is on you, not a marketplace search result.
- Multi-location from day one: Fresha, Treatwell, Vagaro, Square, and Rexabook all support it natively. Booksy and Setmore are the two where multi-location means separate, unlinked accounts rather than one shared calendar.
- You travel to clients (mobile hairdressers, mobile PTs, home cleaners): Rexabook is the only one of the seven with a defined home base, per-day travel areas, travel-time-aware availability, and route planning between same-day bookings - the rest, at best, offer a flat travel radius and fee with no routing logic.
- You’re outside the UK/US/EU core markets: check availability first. Vagaro (GB/US/CA/AU) and Treatwell (UK/EU) are the two most geographically restricted; Setmore and Rexabook have the widest reach.
FAQ
Is any of these actually free, with no catch? Genuinely yes, for two: Setmore (capped at 4 staff, 1 location, no card-on-file) and Rexabook (uncapped team, funded by a small customer-paid booking fee instead of a subscription). Square’s free tier is real too, but single-staff/single-location only. Booksy, Fresha, and Vagaro all dropped or never had a free-forever tier - trial only.
Which one has the least commission? Rexabook, Vagaro, Square, and Setmore all charge 0% commission on bookings (Vagaro/Square/Setmore instead charge a flat subscription once you’re past their free tier; Rexabook is free either way). Fresha and Booksy have per-seat subscriptions with no commission on top; Treatwell has no subscription but a 35% new-client commission instead.
Can I switch without losing my client list or reviews? Client lists move via CSV export/import on every platform here. Reviews are marketplace-specific and don’t transfer - if you’re leaving Booksy, Fresha, or Treatwell, your reviews stay on their marketplace and you start fresh (or import your Google Reviews, which most platforms including Rexabook support). See the dedicated switching from Booksy and switching from Fresha guides for the full walkthrough.
Get started
Try Rexabook freeNo trial clock, no card required for the Free plan. If you’d rather see it before signing up, paste your current booking-page URL into /import for a live preview in about 30 seconds.
See how Rexabook compares to your current platform
Free for your whole team, uncapped - or a flat monthly rate with 0% commission if you'd rather. No trial required either way.
Get started freeNo card required. Set up in under 4 minutes.